Bloodborne Child
by Aya Diefair
Summary: For most, an abomination is nothing more than a nightmare. But when a blessing is birthed from tragedy, some learn a little too late that one can indeed be born. — - Warning: Language, Dark Themes, Violence, Descriptions of Moderate Gore.


**Author's Note:** This was a fic I originally wrote as a joke or sorts. It was inspired by a prompt: [Trope] Good/Evil twins, and my brain decided to write the entire backstory of this idea that brewed in my head to make it flow into a nice, clean story. I don't have any real idea where I am going to take this piece, as I personally loathe _The Cursed Child_, however, with this in mind, I might pull very few things from it just for plot convenience sake at times. As I said, I don't really know where I am going to take this story, but I hope you enjoy it for now.

Also, to clear things up from the start: I headcanon the Greengrass' to be foreigners/immigrants of the UK from Greece. I also headcanon that Helen Greengrass (Astoria and Daphne's mom) is full Chinese, hence the references of why they are speaking it in this story. This makes Astoria and Daphne Greek-Chinese, but I also have mentions that the family still holds certain values as Purebloods, they are not extremists by any means. Feel free to PM if you have any questions about my headcanon and I would be happy to share!

Enjoy!

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**Bloodborne Child**

_June 10th, 2005 - 6:30pm_

It was the families' bi-weekly dinner gathering, the first one that everyone was present for in a while, that is. Giving extra stress on the importance of this particular dinner by both Draco and Astoria Malfoy was needed in order to assure their parents attendance. These gatherings used to be more pleasant and civil when the newlyweds established them two years ago in the hopes to unite the families. Instead, the entire tradition went downhill after only six months when talk of children became a common conversation starter.

The tension between everyone only worsened as the civility left the tones of their voices when methods of upbringing, where they would attend school, and how they would be conditioned were interwoven into the subject. Naturally, neither side ever wished to truly hear what the couple had to say about any of it, and it often left behind a lot of stress and disdain by the end.

Today was going to be different, the couple had a pleasant surprise for their respective families. Though their hope of unifying the in-laws was futile at this point, they could at the very least be happy over the same piece of news together for a change.

The appetizers were eaten in relative silence once the standard exchange of pleasantries to one another were given, but the tension was already lingering thickly around the grand table. Everyone was seated in the same layout they always had in place plus an additional guest. Daphne overheard the conversation between her parents and insisted on attending as well, her curiosity of what the secret hype from her sister would've eaten away at her otherwise.

Draco could tell she was uncomfortable. Apparently no one had told her how awkward these gatherings became and marched in blind. She would whisper something to Astoria on occasion, but the silence quickly took back over. He wondered if Daphne would've preferred being back at St. Mungo's rather than curling into herself from the heavy tension surrounding her while she picked at her food.

After a painstakingly long two course meal, dessert finally arrived. It was accompanied by flutes of champagne that were placed next to everyone's plates. Astoria's was a sparkling cider that veiled itself well with the other drinks to not give anything away. Draco gave Astoria a comforting look as she suddenly became very nervous about what was about to be announced.

The couple decided to tell everyone together, but Astoria seemed to have froze up, leaving the opening of the speech to fall on Draco. Clearing his throat, he slowly got to his feet and gave a gentle _tink_ of his glass to catch everyone's attention. All eyes were on him now.

"Before we tuck into this fine dessert, I—_we _have something we'd like to share with you all," Draco spoke clearly, glancing at Astoria to signal her to continue.

Narcissa wriggled in her seat as discreetly as possible—seeming to know what was about to unfold. Helen, Astoria's mother, mimicked the barely contained excitement. Astoria lowered her head, a soft blush colored her cheeks as she slowly stood up and straightened her posture. Everyone's eyes shifted to her.

"Draco and I. . ." she paused, looking down at her stomach, a small smile crept over her face as she rested her hands over it. "We're expecting—"

"_WHAT?!" _Daphne blurted out, dropping her dessert spoon to the floor.

Astoria could barely get the words out before the couple were smothered with hugs, kisses, and _oh's_ and _ah's_ from their mothers. Narcissa would not stop smiling at her son, and Helen hugged Astoria gently while speaking Chinese too quickly for Draco to properly translate. The fathers were more reserved to congratulate their children on the wonderful news, but the looks on their faces did not hide their prideful happiness.

"I am very happy for you both, son," Lucius said once things calmed down.

"This is certainly a welcoming surprise!" Morpheus stated, giving his daughter a warm hug.

"A grandchild! Oh, how delightful!" Narcissa all but cheered, not bothering to hide the look of unbridled joy on her face.

"Grandchildren actually, Mother," Draco corrected as he approached Astoria and placed a gentle kiss to her temple.

"_Twins? _Oh, sweetheart!" she squealed, and another wave of hugs from the mothers went around.

Lucius was less than thrilled at the added information, Draco noticed. Daphne had stood up quickly, appearing slightly appalled and put out as she started to utter in Chinese as well. Narcissa and Helen spoke over each other, and Morpheus kept trying to give Astoria another hug and offer Draco a hand in the suddenly very crowded space. There was too much going on around in the dining room that it was difficult for Draco to decide who to address first.

"'Stori! _Twins_?! Why didn't you come to me to find this out?" Daphne scolded, clearly offended by the lack of involvement.

"Please don't be upset, Daph," Astoria quickly offered.

"We decided to have Healer Hale monitor Astoria's pregnancy. Given the extreme circumstances involved," Draco cut in, allowing the topic to pull the room into silence.

Everyone was ecstatic about the news, but no one wanted to think about the imminent risks that could be involved with when it came with the curse Astoria carried. Especially when twins were a contributing factor.

"You mean _Dr._ Hale?" Daphne found herself scoffing, dropping her voice into a hushed, but harsh whisper and reverted to Chinese so the rest couldn't hear. "You're aware he practices Muggle medicine as well, don't you 'Stori?"

"Is that supposed to bother me, Daph'?" Astoria hissed back.

Blood status was not something her parents stressed upon their daughters, but it also was not completely ignored. Astoria never cared for it and made sure to avoid the extremist crowds that plagued the school and befriended peers from the other houses instead. A Slytherin she was, but she never wanted to share the standard viewpoints her blood said she should live by.

Daphne was the opposite, but had grown up a lot and looked past it most of the time. She put a lot of effort and focus on a career as a Healer and even traveled across Europe to train and aid in the recovery of the collateral damage of surrounding countries that was overlooked during the peak of war. However, when her emotions went rampant, things tended to slip out.

Morpheus pulled Draco away from the squabbling sisters, giving the blond a slap on the back. "Congratulations, Drake—"

"It's Draco."

"I didn't think you had it in you to even have one, but two? Blimey, you have my utmost respect."

Lucius overheard the underlying scathing comment as he approached. Before his son could counter, he took it upon himself to do so, instead.

"How dare you insult my son like that, Morpheus."

Draco gave his father a look to tell him to just let it be, but it was too late and went unnoticed.

Morpheus turned to face Lucius, the two stood as tall as they were able while silently sizing one another up. Things were going south really fast and Draco had no idea what to do to prevent it.

"Offering my respect is insulting now, is it?" Morpheus retorted, hazel eyes narrowing.

"Father," Draco began to say, but went quiet when Lucius raised a dismissive hand at him.

"Not only do you mispronounce his name, you all but call my son an incompetent, sterile, buffoon."

"And spineless, apparently." Morpheus added on, taunting both of the Malfoy men.

Everyone went quiet, the rooms tension was as taught as a balance wire. Draco saw his father grip the snakehead of his cane; it was a bad sign. Someone needed to distract them before curses went flying.

Daphne pulled her wand from an inner pocket, using it to get everyone's attention with a Sonorous Charm. "Congratulations to Astoria and Draco! Do we all want to know what they are?"

Astoria looked taken aback, but had been rendered speechless at her father's less than desirable behavior toward her husband. She was utterly mortified at this point; the entire surprise had been tarnished. However, the idea of being able to find out what they were this early was intriguing. It had her wonder why Healer Hale hadn't found out yet, or if this simply was Daphne trying to help distract everyone from the hostility.

"Well, of course I'd love to know," Narcissa spoke up.

Helen quickly overlapped her. "I'd be over the moon!"

Astoria put a hand on Daphne's wand arm, pulling her close so she could whisper in Chinese. "Can you really do that? It's quite early yet…"

"How far along?"

"Barely two months in."

Her elder sister shrugged her off. "It can be detected that early."

"But, Healer Hale hasn't—" Astoria was cut off.

"He thinks the spell is inaccurate at this stage. I say why not just have fun with it?" Daphne snapped, readying her wand.

Draco stopped her this time, looking very concerned about the suggestion when he finally caught on. He kept his tone low as he responded in English. "I am not comfortable with this."

"Will you two relax? It's harmless, I promise. I thought it'd help ease the tension," Daphne quickly explained. "Besides, whoever doesn't want to know what their bundles of joy are nutters. And I want to give you two a gift, anyway."

After a long silence of exchanged looks between the young couple, the two accepted Daphne's offer. The squabbling between the in-laws continued in hushed, heated tones behind them while they were huddled up.

"Alright! Here we go, everyone!" Daphne announced, moving Astoria to stand in front of her.

Being put on the spot again by the prying eyes of the parents, Astoria barely acknowledged Draco gripping her hand in assurance. Daphne flourished her wand above her sister's head. A shimmering silver trail formed into a ball and lowered toward Astoria's stomach where the colors slowly turned from red to blue before settling on a plum purple. The mix between the two colors indicated that they had one of each gender.

Everyone had forgotten the drama caused by egos and strong opinions. The congratulatory toast was made and dessert was consumed with a slightly happier air between the small family. Daphne had sprayed green and purple confetti at Draco and Astoria from her wand in celebration. The women soon gathered to the sitting room to discuss names and nursery decorations over tea while the men retreated to the parlor for their after dinner refreshments that would likely result in continuing the insults and degrading remarks from earlier—much to Draco's chagrin.


End file.
